Betty just called!

[tiggersgirl]

Hi!
I just got a call from Betty asking if I received the video from DVC. She gave all of the information and asked if I was interested. I told her I knew that the only property left was the villas at Wilderness Lodge and if I was interested it would be the Beach Club Villas. For some reason she seemed surprised that I knew about the Beach Club Villas. She said she would keep that in mind and get back to me when they start the pre-sells (she didn't know when that would be).
I've never been interested in DVC before but she did say that I could buy in with as little as a $500 deposit. Is this true?
Also, she said that it's 150 points to start, the payments would run about $175 a month plus $45 dues. Not bad. What I need to know is can I put down half of the $11,250 and lower my monthly payment? I'm not a homeowner so I have no idea on how this works! Does that work against me if I'm not a homeowner? By that I mean do they do credit checks and dig into my finances? I only have a few credit card bills, nothing outrages.
We have 6 adults and 2 kids in our family, if all of us want to go at one time, how many points would it take to accomodate all of us? I would hate to get 150 points and only be able to spend 3 days at a time if all of us go at once! Should I start out with 200 points? We usually go for no more than 7 nights at a time.
I guess what I really need to know is what can 150 points do for us? Is it just enough or is that a generous amount? I know a lot of you add on, I have no interest in adding on anywhere else besides the Beach Club Villas. Can you have a good vacation with 150 points? I'm getting a little excited, but I'm starting to think it wouldn't be a good fit for me. We spent $3000 this August on 3 rooms this year so I thought this might be a good alternative.
Thank you all for any information!

 

[Candace]

I don't know what the present interest rate is for financing through Disney, but yes, you can pay half and lower your monthly payment. With the number of people in your family, you will need a 2 bedroom. You can play with the calculator on this site to see how many points you would need at various times of year. Also, if you want to buy the minimum package, you can bank or borrow points one year prior or one year forward from when you want to use them. Keep asking questions here, and you will learn many ways to be creative with your points. A link to the calculator:http://www.wdwinfo.com/resort/dvcpoint.shtml

 

[jennybobenny]

We originally bought 150 points but quickly found out it really wasn't enough for our family. Our plan was to vacation in WDW every *other* year so by banking 150 points on alternate years we'd have 300 to work with. We knew that idea wasn't going to work when I started planning our 2nd trip on the plane ride home from the 1st. We added on another 100 points and although it's adequate, it's still not enough. We'll never have enough. We'll always want to stay longer or bring more family members with us (or both ). For now we'll just have to be satisfied with the 250.

It's all up to you with how creative you want to get with your points. Standard views (I'm assuming BCV will have std vs. preferred views) use less points but sometimes need to be booked 10-11 months in advance. Weekend nights (Fri. and Sat.) use more points. Obviously peak seasons require more points, but during the value season the parks aren't always open as late. Some DVC members spend alot of time finding ways to stretch their points and others look at total week amounts and just go from there.

As for the credit check, you'll be fine. Don't give it a second thought.

Is DVC right for you? That's something you'll need to decide. How many more trips like your last one will you be taking in the next 40 years? If the answer is alot, and you're an 'onsite' kind of person then DVC could work out for you in the long run. It's not an investment but more like vacation pre-payment plan. Good luck making your decision.

 

[Granny]

It's going to be a little tough to figure out how many points you will need. The Beach Club Villas haven't started selling yet, so, to my knowledge, they haven't published a point schedule.

You could use the Villas at Wilderness Lodge as your best indicator. For 6 adults and 2 kids you will need to look at 2 bedroom accommodations for your visits. I believe that is the largest accommodation Beach Club Villas will have as well.

Since they are not planning on selling Beach Club until next year, and you seem to have your heart set on that site, then you will probably have to wait a while to get enough information to make a decision.

In the meantime, I recommend visiting this board frequently. When I was making my decision, I found this board to have the best information available, and plenty of knowledgeable people to answer just about any question you can think of.

Good luck!

 

[tiggersgirl]

Thank you all very much for your replies!
It might be to my advantage that the Beach Club Villas won't be opening soon. Since I have $500 a month taken out of my paycheck for vacation I will be able to put down a healthy amount. Yes we do go every year around the middle of August so I can see the savings in the DVC.
I will be glad when Disney comes out with at least an artist's rendition of the Beach Club Villas then I'll have something to go by. It's kind of hard to get excited over an idea LOL!!
I'll keep reading the boards and maybe I can pick up some tips on stretching points!
Thanks again!

 

[PKS44]

I would assume the points will be the same as VWL...I agree that for a week it would be best to have a 2BR for 6 adults and 2 kids but realize that is two people in the living room on the fold out, 2 in the master and 4 in the second bedroom (a bed and a fold out or 2 queens)..If that does not sound good you could get 2 studios for fewer points per stay but less kitchen amenities (no stove -or stove decoration- as many call it here (I love that!) and no washer/dryer in your room. For most of the permutations 150 will get you a week every OTHER year in Jan/Sept/Oct/Nov/?May?- any other time and you are looking at fewer days or more points..I agree that you should look at the point calculator and plug in what you would have used last vacation and see what that would have cost you in points...then plan accordingly.
Best of luck on your decision-
Paul

 

[normr]

You can get an idea using the point calculator here, just so you know, there are 4 types of DVC accomodations, the studio and one-bedroom, both sleep 4 and a child under 3, the 2-bedroom sleeps 8 plus the child under 3 and the Grand Villa sleeps 12 plus the child, not all of the resorts have the Grand Villa, the studio doesn't have a kitchen it is a little larger than the standard WDW hotel room but gives you a microwave and refrigerator.

The one bedroom has a private bedroom with king size bed and there is a sleeper sofa in the living room, large bath area, jacuzzi tub, washer and dryer and the full kitchen.

To give you an idea the 2 bedroom @ WLV uses anywhere from 30-50 points per night Sun-Thursday and 60-106 per night on Friday & Saturday depending on season


The cheapest 2002 season is called Adventure and runs
January 1-31
September 1-30
December 1-14, so during that time you could get 5 days in for the 150 points, the points for Friday & Saturday then would run 60 per night, so the whole week would run 270 points

the next season (Choice) which runs

Oct 1-31
Nov 1-26
Nov 30
Dec 15-23
that season week runs 282 points

(Dream season) runs
Feb 1-15
May 1-31
June 1-10
Aug 16-31 runs 315 points

(Magic season) runs
Feb 16-28
Mar 1-23
April 7-30
June 11-30
July 1-31
Aug 1-15
Nov 27-29 runs 350 points for the week

The highest season (Premier)
March 24-31
April 1-6
Dec 24-31 runs 462 points for the week

so the cheapest season in 2002 for the WLV runs 270 whereas if you bought a resale for OKW the cheapest 2 bedroom season week runs 218 points for the week, that is why alot of us love our home OKW, we have the largest units, and pay the least amount in points and dues.

 

[tiggersgirl]

Thanks again!
I'm trying to figure out an approximate total. I'm taking the safe route and figuring that the BCV will be $80 per point. Maybe $3.50 per point for maintenance? Since I'm already having $500 a month placed in a savings account for vacation I'm busting my brain trying to figure out how many points I can purchase spending at least $300 a month including fees! I know I'm doing it backwards but I'm paying for it with a monster headache LOL!!!
I know that if I can make it with saving $500 a month I sure can afford $300 a month PLUS save the other $200 (or not). We usually go around August 12 (closest Sunday check-in) and stay for 7 nights. I'm sure we'll need the 2 br set up (hopefully with 2 queens in the second bedroom). The MOST going would be 8 (6 adults and 2 children), but sometimes maybe only 6 (4 adults and my 2 nephews).
I was thinking 250 points to start with but I saw on a older thread that during my time frame a 2 br would be 314 points for WLV, soooo if 250 points for BCV is less than $300 a month maybe I can start off with more points.....OK that's enough, I felt something snap in my skull!!!
Thanks for the advice, anything else you can think of would be very much appreciated!

 

[Richyams]

Personally, for that number of people, I wouldn't plan on anything but the Grand Villa at OKW. The room is about the largest on property. OKW dues are the lowest and OKW points are lowest per night. OKW is only available through resale, but since you are planning on a large downpayment, that works to your advantage.

Sleeping with 8 in a two bedroom, especially one of the small two bedrooms that BCV will have, just aint my idea of a vacation. You are not going to be able to site down for breakfast, or any other meal, most people will not have any privacy, they are just too small for eight people. Especially when you are planning this far out in advance, why not go for the unit that will suit your party best? The Grand Villa at OKW will do just that.

 

[Tiggeriffic]

A couple things that you should think about:

- What kind of accomadations have you been getting or would you get without DVC? Would you have 4 adults share a room or not? Remeber, most people joing DVC to get better accomadations at a lower cost, so you probably wouldn't want to increase the number of people in a room.

- When you're calculating the use of that $500 a month, make sure you're comparing the same things. Does that $500 include airfare, food, park passes? Although your costs might change slightly if you're a DVC member due to eating in your room or discounts, in general those costs probably won't change much.

Good luck with your decision. Also, make sure you consider where you would like to stay on property. BCV will probably be a great location near Epcot and MGM. However, some people, like my wife, prefer a quieter room. That's why we bought at OKW, although we would have considered VWL if they had been selling them at the tim.

 

[PamOKW]

Of course, no one know what the the dollar costs will be for BCV but I think your figures might be low. If you want to err on the high side, I'd plan on $85 per point for BCV (could be lower). Also, $3.50 for dues is low. Here's are the 2001 dues for all the resorts. My guess is BCV would be similar to BWV which is $3.83

OKW = $3.13
BWV = $3.83
HH = $3.32
Vero= $3.97
VWL = $3.63

I wouldn't count on having two-tiers of views like BWV. That wasn't in the original plans for BWV. Member complaints about getting parking lot vs. Boardwalk views caused them to add it. I don't think that will happen again. I would plan on paying points equal to or higher than those for VWL and BWV Preferred View. For your mid-August comparison you might bridge two seasons.
For a 2 Bedroom:
Aug 1-15 is 40 points a night for Sun-Thurs and 75 points a night for Fri. & Sat.

Aug 16-31 that changes to 34 and 72 points

Studio:
Aug 1-15 14 points Su-Thurs and 32 points for Fri-Sat
Aug 16-31 that's 13 and 29 points

If you are going to vacation yearly, I don't think 150 points will do it for your group. If you are only going to stay Sun-Friday, you'd need a minimum of 170 for a two-bedroom after Aug. 16 and 200 for earlier in August.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Tiggersgirl, sounds like you're thrashing around sort of like us. We haven't purchased yet, but almost assuredly will be by the first of November. We're starting out with 170 points at VWL. We've got a lot of flexibility in traveling (and our DD gets a weeklong break in October, when the weather is great); but what settled us was our decision not to use weekend points. We're a long day's drive from WDW; we'll use Saturday as our travel day, and stay "off campus" that first night. A 1BR will serve us fine. I'm not casting you in our autobiography, but my unsolicited advice is to pay as much down as you possibly can, finance over 10 years (with the option of an earlier payoff, if you want), and have fun. We've waffled back and forth on this purchase for some legitimate reasons, but as most anyone else will testify, the true regrets come in not buying sooner.

I've been wanting to use this little guy -- so --

 

[donald@home]

Everyone has been giving really good advice. I can't add anything to this except to let you know that there have been artist renderings published of the BCV, I don't have a link to them but I'm sure someone else would. Can anyone out there help out?

 

[Terry S]

Joe Cool has them in the Yaht and Beach Club FAQ on the resort board they are towards the bottom of the first page.

Here is the link:

http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1116

 

[tiggersgirl]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I really appreciate it!
The one thing in my favor is that everyone won't be going at the same time everytime. The first year of course, then it will be just me and one of my sisters. After that, we might take our nephews, then everybody. My other 2 sisters and my parents wouldn't mind going every other year so we'll probably be able to bank quite a few points for when we need that 2 br. Does that make sense?
This year we had 3 rooms concierge at the AKL for three nights ($2400 AP rate total). We drove from Illinois and everyone contributed to the cost of the van. My sister and I will be flying down ( never flown before!).
I'll put down at least $5000 so I think I'll be ok. I just have to figure out how many points we need!
We would do Sun-Thurs DVC and a Friday and Saturday at the AKL (we love the Sunrise Safari!)
I guess my next step is to wait for the info from Betty. We watched the video again and it sounds like a good deal! Thanks PamOKW for the chart, it helped a lot!
Here's the link that got me so intrigued about the BCV.....http://www.wdwig.com/g_bcv.htm
I think it will be beautiful!

 

[Dreamfinder2]

You know, I just realized that I've reached a big milestone, so forgive this bump for purely selfish reasons ... the 75th post!!